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Vaccine question bringing me out of lurkerdom

Hi everyone!
My name is Mindy, I live in New Jersey, and am a proud mama to a little Blenheim named Lucy (honestly had NO IDEA how popular the name was among this breed! She just looks like a Lucy)

Lucy went to the vet today and got a distemper shot and a rabies shot. After her first shot, she wouldn't come out of her crate and was miserable. After this shot, she is acting very oddly aggressive. Not aggressive in the usual sense, but aggressive for her means that she is barking, running the fence line trying to get at the neighbors do- even barking and making little woofs in her sleep.

Was it her first series of shots? Were you all, like, "oh you poor baby that must have hurt and let me cuddle you" or was your behavior more like, "ah, well, stiff upper lip you were a brave girl because this is no big deal." Dogs read our voice and behaviors. The first type makes a dog feel threatened and anxious about going to the vet. I always utilize the second attitude and they cannot wait to get INTO the veterinary building. LOL

Just as with people, dogs can have various reactions to vaccines immediately following the vaccination. In general, a lot of people really recommend not to have a dog get rabies as well as a core booster on the same day. Some dogs can be quite sensitive to vaccinations and the site of the vaccination will hurt or cause just general muscle ache etc. This generally goes away within hours or a day or so. With this breed, please be sure to ask your vet to only give vaccinations into the thigh and not into the neck skin–the breed, sadly, is very prone to the neurological condition syringomyelia, and many neurologists feel that vaccinating into the neck can be very uncomfortable for Cavaliers and could even potentially create further problems. The Cavaliers that do develop this condition tend to have syrinxes form in their neck, and evidence is that about 70% of Cavaliers will eventually have at least one syrinx even if they do not have any symptoms In the condition never bothers them much, so it is just a good idea generally to avoid this area for injections as much as possible.I don't think she sounds aggressive–that's a pretty loaded word when it comes to dogs and should be used carefully! She just sounds a bit hyper–which could easily be a response to a vaccine. You might have had a vaccination yourself that has made you feel either a bit sleepy or sore or hyper and the only way dogs can express discomfort or hyperactivity is to run around, bark, whine. If any of this continues for more than a day and it looks like she is actually in discomfort, ring your vet right away and get their advice.

Karlin, we are picking up our new baby Fri or Sat and will be taking him for his first shots next Wed. Are the vets usually accepting of the request to do shots in a different place than they normally would and is it important to avoid the neck even in a pup only 9 weeks old? I also thought I read somewhere that Cavaliers generally don't do well with one of the shots and that some people avoid that one, I can't remember maybe the Lepto? Is there any that I should be avoiding?

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion".Author: Taken from a LO done by Too Scrappy

I always ask for all shots to be in the thigh with this breed, even on puppies. I have never encountered an issue with vets–if I did, I would change vets! it really doesn't matter much from their point of view where they give an injection, or shouldn't. Lepto is one of the vaccines that can cause reactions more frequently in small dogs. If people choose not to give this injection and live in an area where there is a lot of lepto, it is extremely important to understand what the symptoms of this disease look like. It is treatable, but can become fatal if left untreated fairly quickly. I posted recently In this forum on recommendations and how to treat if the dog does get this, so you should be able to find the post fairly easily. It is very hard to say what is the right choice because there are risks either way. I have given my dogs lepto boosters for years and have never had a single problem and I don't know of anyone in my personal acquaintance who's ever had a problem, but some have posted here about issues and I do know anecdotally about problems. I would feel a lot more strongly that dogs not be given annual boosters after the 1st one given at age one, but instead be given core boosters only every 3 years. It is much harder to persuade some vets that this is what you want to do–even though their own vet organizations and international vet schools now recommend this, and say that annual boosters not only are not necessary and a waste of time/money, but are known to actually cause serious illnesses such as cancer and can have a hard impact on the immune system, especially in older dogs (I do not vaccinate any dog or cat after 7). Again, a good vet should be aware of the three-year recommendation and should be more than supportive if that is the choice people want to make. I wish kennels and dog care facilities were more aware and would stop demanding to see annual booster certificates.

Thanks for all your responses! I wrote and rewrote my description of her, and aggressive was the best description I could come up with! She is on occasion very hyper- especially when the kids get her going, but I've never heard her bark once in the month that she has been here! If she is hurting, I would never know it, judging by her behavior- she is jumping on and off the couch, running laps around the yard with the kids, chasing leaves etc. She seems very happy, with the exception of all the barking, and pacing the side of the yard, where the neighbor with a dog lives.
Maybe she is finally starting to make herself at home?
I just looked at her records, and she was given a dhlppc puppyshot booster lci-gp and imrab 1 year rabies vaccine. both were given sub q in the neck. Thinking back I'm surprised he gave them both in the same spot. I'm an RN, and we never give humans a **** in the same spot! I was so distracted with mt two kids (2&5) with me. Next time they are staying home! I feel bad, I should have spoken up for my pup.

I missed that info. Bella had her last shot yesterday...in the neck...why is it advisable to not have it in the neck?

Lucyc - Bella wasn't agressive, just sleepy although funnily enough the vet commented that Bella was quite calm about the whole thing and said that "CKCS pups were often quite narky at the vet" I was quite surprised.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.- Bern Williams

Hi Mindy! Sonny is a little over 7 months now, but when he got his vaccines he had a very similar reaction to Lucy. For his first two rounds of shots he was more hyper than usual running around like a madman and couldn't seem to calm down. (He was just a puppy so he always had those spurts of high energy, but it just seemed different after the vaccines). Anyways for his last round of shots, the vet gave him some Benadryl and that seemed to help. Hope Lucy is feeling better!!!

Originally Posted by Lucyc

Hi everyone!
My name is Mindy, I live in New Jersey, and am a proud mama to a little Blenheim named Lucy (honestly had NO IDEA how popular the name was among this breed! She just looks like a Lucy)

Lucy went to the vet today and got a distemper shot and a rabies shot. After her first shot, she wouldn't come out of her crate and was miserable. After this shot, she is acting very oddly aggressive. Not aggressive in the usual sense, but aggressive for her means that she is barking, running the fence line trying to get at the neighbors do- even barking and making little woofs in her sleep.